Spider-Man fans have been on a bit of a rollercoaster lately. They have enjoyed the heights reached by comic book series such as Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) and Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) while suffering from the lows of the previous iteration of The Amazing Spider-Man, which started back in 2022. But one of the upsides of being a fan of the wall-crawler is that he has no shortage of stories to discover, and one of them might just be your next favorite.
One tale that has been at the center of conversation recently is All-New Venom. After the events of Venom War (2024), Eddie Brock parted ways with his ever-trusting symbiote. While Eddie went ahead and became a new version of Carnage, the Venom symbiote found a mysterious new host that remained in anonymity for a very long time. It wasn't until recently that comic book readers were treated to a shocking truth: Mary Jane is the new iteration of the Lethal Protector
But why did this big change come to be? What had to happen for MJ to bond with a parasitic alien? Well, we finally have an answer, and it's a bit more complex than we might've imagined.
Mary Jane and Venom's bond is the only thing keeping each other alive
All-New Venom (2024) No. 6 finally put all the cards on the table and revealed the complex situation of its main character. See, before Mary Jane became Venom, she acted as a solo superhero under the name of Jackpot (in what I believe to be one of the character's worst arcs). Just because her first-ever words in comic book pages were "Face it, tiger... you just hit the Jackpot!" doesn't mean that her whole "superpower" must be having a slot machine gauntlet that she doesn't fully control (since it was all a game of chance). Her situation was so bad that she eventually asked Peter Parker to make her device work better.
Spidey, who was wearing the black suit back then, attached a piece of the Venom symbiote to MJ's gauntlet to make it less random. After all, the parasitic alien could actually decide the outcome of the slot machine. At first, this quick fix was enough to make Jackpot feel unstoppable. However, she quickly realized the danger of letting another sentient being activate her powers at any time, without previous warning.
Eventually, the rest of the Venom symbiote passed from Peter to Eddie Brock, and then it was shot with an anti-symbiote poison. As simple as that, one of Spider-Man's greatest enemies was left to burn and die alone in the sewers. Detecting this dire situation, the sliver of Venom stuck in MJ's gauntlet led her to the rest of the symbiote. But while reaching their destination, the slot machine was activated, and it rolled three skulls — an outcome that instantly kills its holder.
... Yes, from her very inception, Jackpot's "superpowers" had the chance to kill her had the machine rolled three skulls. There was supposed to be a safeguard installed in the device, but as we now know, it didn't work. So yeah, this just doubles down on the fact that leaving your superpowers to chance was never a great idea.
In that moment, both Mary Jane and the Venom symbiote were in a dire situation. Both of them were dying and, with their back against the wall, the symbiote decided to do the only thing that would give them a chance at salvation: bonding with the superheroine. While such a risky move worked, both characters are technically already dead. The only thing that's keeping them alive is their attachment. As Venom would say: "I became the bond holding [her atoms] together--the glue keeping her in one piece". However, if they ever decide to go their separate ways, it's game over for both.
It's hard to see a world where the Venom symbiote doesn't return to its most famous host: Eddie Brock. So, chances are that the parasitic alien and Mary Jane will find a way to stay alive without each other. But for the time being, it looks like there will be plenty more of All-New Venom coming our way.
All-New Venom (2024) #7 will be released on June 04, 2025.